Trivia

Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Committee on Negro Leagues in 1973.

Played with the Newark Eagles in the Negro Leagues (1937-1948).

Played with the New York Giants (1949-1955) and Chicago Cubs (1956).

Member of 1951 National League Champion New York Giants team. Member of 1954 World Series Champion New York Giants team.

Named to 1952 National League All Star Team.

Made major league debut on 8 July 1949.

In 1951, he, Hank Thompson, and Willie Mays, then a 20-year-old rookie, formed the first all-black outfield in MLB history with the Giants.

After his baseball career, he worked for the Rheingold beer company, then spent 17 years in the baseball commissioner's office as one of the sport's first black executives. He organized a committee to recognize Negro-leagues players in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was one of 13 children of sharecroppers. His family moved to Orange, N.J., where he was an all-state high school athlete in football, basketball, baseball, and track. He attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania on an athletic scholarship, but left to play pro baseball in the Negro leagues, plus one season in Mexico.

He played primarily in left field.

Finished 3rd in voting for 1951 National League MVP for leading league in RBI (121) and having .312 Batting Average, .415 On-base Percentage, .514 Slugging Percentage, 94 Runs, 174 Hits, 287 Total Bases, 11 Triples, 24 Home Runs, 89 Walks, 12 Stolen Bases, 272 Times on Base and hit by pitch 9 times.

He was nominated for the 2012 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his contributions to Sports.

Inducted into the Lincoln University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012 (inaugural class).

Orange, New Jersey (October 2011)

Orange, New Jersey: Retired (January 2012)

Many thought he would be the first African American to integrate Major League baseball. He had tryouts with some teams. and said that Branch Rickey wanted to sign him to a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, he missed three years of baseball while serving in the Army during WWII.

He was nominated for the 2017 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Sports category.

He was nominated for the 2019-2020 Class of New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Sports category.

He was inducted into the 2021 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Sports Category.